Defensive end Frank Clark runs around trash cans during Seahawks minicamp on Tuesday, June 13, 2017.

Defensive end Frank Clark runs around trash cans during Seahawks minicamp on Tuesday, June 13, 2017.

Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM

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Seahawks 2017 position previews: A loaded defensive line

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The Seahawks aren't unfamiliar with position switches, though this one would have been the most unprecedented.

Doug Baldwin seems a bit undersized to be a defensive lineman, but watching him practice with the unit during organized team activities in June, you can't help but notice his lightning-quick footwork and knack for hand-to-hand combat.

And while the Pro Bowl wide receiver believes he'd make a decent 3-technique pass-rusher, Seattle is already strong on the defensive line.

For starters, the defensive line may very well have the Seahawks' best player on it in Michael Bennett, a title he can arguably claim because of his ability to put a quarterback on his butt from any position, and his potential to completely destroy a running back just as viciously.

Then there's Cliff Avril, another Pro Bowl quarterback-destroyer who just turned a philanthropic promise into a career season, building a new home in Haiti for each of the 11.5 sacks he recorded in 2016.

Ahtyba Rubin and Jarran Reed can, if nothing else, be serviceable defensive tackle pieces, and if not, the Seahawks wisely addressed that position in the most recent draft, spending a second-round pick on Malik McDowell and a third-round selection on Nazair Jones.

The Seahawks are very high on McDowell, whose motor was questioned at times during his college career at Michigan State, but brings with him a unique body type (6-foot-6, 299 pounds) and a high football IQ.

"He's got length, he's got speed, he's got strength, so being able to have him either 3-technique and playing at end, whichever we decide to play him, I think there's going to be a level of athleticism there that it's been a while since we've had that around here," defensive coordinator Kris Richard said of the 35th overall pick after minicamp in June.

"What he has really shown is the aptitude. The ability to learn, the ability to take what we're coaching him and fix the mistakes he is making. We're seeing a guy getting better every day."

Typically your team is in a good place if the guy you grabbed with a second-round pick, who was considered to be a first-round talent, isn't expected to be a major contributor right away.

Part of that is because also on that defensive line is a man likely on his way to making his first Pro Bowl: Frank Clark. The 2015 second-round pick had 10 sacks in his sophomore campaign, forecasting a promising 2017 season that may make him the next Seattle Seahawks draft star (Tyler Lockett may have an argument, but this team is still built around the defense).

"Clark, a third-year end, is trending upward after topping his three-sack rookie campaign with 10 takedowns in 2016," Sessler wrote. "Film reveals a high-motor player with the talent to whirl past tight ends and tackles into the backfield. Considering that Michael Bennett has just one double-digit sack campaign over eight seasons, Clark is just getting going."

Seattle still has a quality talent in Cassius Marsh and signed undrafed free agent Jeremy Liggins, who has a chance to make the 53-man roster as a defensive tackle, filling a DL spot vacated by injured linemen Dion Jordan -- he had another knee procedure performed after being acquired this offseason as a free agent -- and Quinton Jefferson.